Meanwhile, when Jiangling fell, Xiao Zhuang was hidden by the Buddhist nun Famu (法慕) and therefore was spared from his grandfather's and his uncles' fate.
In spring 558, Wang Lin, who had been resisting Chen and had wanted to try to continue the Liang dynasty, requested assistance from Northern Qi and asked that Xiao Zhuang be returned so that he could be declared emperor.
Northern Qi did so, and Wang declared Xiao Zhuang emperor at his headquarters of Jiangxia (江夏, in modern Wuhan, Hubei).
Wang served as prime minister, and it appeared that Xiao Zhuang did not actually exercise much imperial power due to his young age.
Ten provinces pledged allegiance to him as emperor, making up roughly modern Hunan and central and eastern Hubei.
In spring 560, when Western Wei's successor state Northern Zhou heard of Wang's campaign, it launched an attack on Jiangxia and put it under siege.
Meanwhile, Wang, engaging Chen general Hou Tian (侯瑱), was defeated and forced to flee to Northern Qi.